Continuous form



Jan. 12, 1960 L. F. HERMAN CONTINUOUS FORM Filed Dec. si, '195e ,5 3FIG. 3

United States Patent CONTENUOUS FORM Lester F. Herman, Webster Groves,Mo., assigner to American Lithofold Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., acorporation of Missouri This invention relates to mailing cards, andmore particularly to the manufacture of a continuous form of foldablemailing cards. l

It will be understood that mailing cards are used by utility companiesand the` like for billing purposes, the necessary information beingentered on individual cards by typing, and perhaps also by punchedholes. The rpresent disclosure is concerned with a system for processinga continuous web of card stock so as to provide a series ofinterconnected mail cards which may be conveniently fed to a bookkeepingmachine, tabulator, or typewriter.

Briefly, a strip of cardboard is provided in a width somewhat greaterthan that of the conventional card, and a fold line is formedlongitudinally of the strip, as -by scoring, partial cutting orperforming,- this longitudinal fold line being offset from the center.The margins of the strip are formed with unifo-rmly spaced holes orvperforations for feeding purposes, both during the process ofmanufacture and'in a subsequent printing yoperation when the billinginformation is added. Otherwise, the strip is formed with a plurality ofuniformly spaced transverse fold lines, which may again be made byscoring, partial cutting or perforations, the spacing therebetween vorina longitudinal direction being equal to the height of the mail card.Such a strip may be preprinted with some of the information to beprovided on the card. The marginal feed perforations serve to locate theinitial printing in proper relationship with respect to top and bottomedges of the cards. As a final step in the process of manufacture, thestrip is folded accordion fashion, and in some cases, it is preferablethat the pleats or folds encompass several mailing cards. In otherwords, the accordion folds may be at every ythird or fourth transversefold lineV As such, the accordion folded continuous form may beconveniently packed in an ordinary box and fed therefrom to a tabulatingmachine. In practice, the cards would then be detached from one another,folded along the aforementioned longitudinal score so as to conceal someof the billing information, and secured in such folded condition.

Although the folded cards may be sealed by means of staples or separatestickers, the information further contemplates the provision of anadhesive, which may be either of a heat-sealing type or pressuresensitive in character, such adhesive being applied in the process ofmanufacturing the continuous form. Where a pressuresensitive adhesive isemployed, a continuous separator strip, such as wax paper, isinterleaved with the accordion folded card stock, so as to preventundesired adhesion at the accordion folds. Necessarily, there would betwo stripes of pressure-sensitve adhesive equally spaced on oppositesides of the longitudinal fold so as to register with one another when acard is folded on itself. The wax paper would be arranged to overlie thetwo stripes of pressure-sensitive adhesive, and it may be convenientlyseparated at the storage box, as by means of a string or other dividerextending across the top thereof.

2,920,811 Patented Jan. 12, 1960 Other features of the invention will bein part apparent from and in part pointed out in the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating a single mailing card in itsfolded and secured adhered condition;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective View illustrating the several stepsin the process of manufacturing the form of this invention;

Fig. 3 is a'plan view illustrating certain details of the form;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the completed accordio-n form, partsbeing broken away;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail cross section of the transverseperforations; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing how the wax paper is readilyseparated from the forms when withdrawn from a package.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawings, there is shown a single mailingcard comprising a main body portion 1 and a flap 3 hinged at one end ofthe body along a fold line 5, which is defined by scoring or the like.The flap 3 is adapted to be folded over the main body 1 with its freeend 7 secured thereto. It will be understood that such a flap may haveseveral purposes, one of which would be to conceal information on thecard. One of the problems in making such a folded mail card is insecuring the flap in folded position.

The cards should be supplied as a continuous form, which can be fedthrough a tabulating machine for printing of desired information, theilap being folded and secured afterwards. It is not generallyeconomically feasible to fold and secure such blanksrby manualprocesses, and although conventional folding machines are available at areasonable cost, they are not readily adapted for applying adhesive tothe form. Accordingly, the present invention in part contemplates theuse of pressure-sensitive adhesive, which is conveniently applied in twostripes when the continuous form is first manufactured well prior to itsuse on Va tabulating machine. When the stripes of pressure-sensitiveadhesive are registered upon folding, as by a conventional foldingmachine, a satisfactory seal is obtained automatically.

Accordingly, the free end margin 7 of the flap 3 is coated with a rstspot or stripe 9 of pressure-sensitive adhesive, and with a second spotor stripe 11 of the same adhesive across the body portion in spacedrelationship from the fold 5, so that the two stripes register when theilap is folded over. A slight pressure is then sufficient to seal theform. It will be understood that areas of such pressure-sensitiveadhesive, which may be of the lateX base, cohere with another but do notadhere to other surfaces.

Referring now to Figs. 2 4, a continuous form of foldable mail cards ismade up from a strip 13 of card stock, which is of a width equal to thelength of the unfolded card. The strip is marginally perforated at 1Sfor cooperation with feed sprockets of the processing equipment andlater with the tabulating machine. The strip of card stock is scored orotherwise weakened along the longitudinal line 5, so as to define thefold of the flap, and the two stripes 9 and 11 of pressure-sensitiveadhesive are shown appliedto the same surface of the card. The stripe 9is adjacent the free end of the flap but slightly inward from themarginal perforations and the stripe 11 is equally spaced on the otherside of fold line 5.

In addition to the above, the process contemplates that transverse tearlines 19 are formed across the assembly so as to facilitate detachmentof individual mailing cards from the continuous form. The tear lines 19may be formed by perforations, and they are so located as to determinethe top and bottom edges ofindividual cards.

3 Where pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied, it is desirable tointerleave a strip 17 of paper to cover both stripes 9 and 11 ofadhesive. Finally, the form` is accordion folded. While the form isshown to ybe folded at every transverse line 19, the accordion foldcould be more Widely spaced, as at every fourth tear line 17.

It will be noted that the Wax paper permits such accordion folding afterapplication of the pressure-sensitive adhesive without danger of thepleats adhering to one another, this being an important feature of theinvention. Although continuous formse'are sometimes supplied in rollformfsuch practice is not desirable where pressuresensitive adhesive hasbeen applied to the form.

A rather long section of the accordion folded form is then packaged in abox 21, the pleats extending horizontally with respect to the top andbottom of the box. In use, the top of the box is opened, and the exposedend of the fo-rm is fed to the tabulating machine, the remaining portionremaining in the box. It will be understood that the typing wouldnormally be applied to the adhesively coated surface of the form, henceit is desirable to remove the wax paper before the form reaches thetabulating machine. The invention contemplates an inexpensive convenientmethod of separating the wax paper by means of `a separating element 23extending across the top 25 of the box. This separator may be a simplestring so secured that the box may be opened with the string remainingin place. As the form is continuously withdrawn from the box, the Waxpaper is guided to one side of the string while the card stock passes onthe other side.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that those skilled in theart will understand the structure, function and mode of operation of theinvention herein disclosed, and appreciate the advantages thereof.Although one embodiment has been disclosed in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto, but the drawingsand description thereof are to be understood as being merelyillustrative. For example, heat-sensitive adhesive may be used in placeof pressure-sensitive adhesive, or other provision may be made forsealing the folded flap 3 of individual cards. It is realized that ymanymodifications and variations Will present themselves to those skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scopethereof as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to -besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A substantially continuous form of foldable mailing cards, comprisinga substantially continuous strip of relatively stiff card stock, saidstrip being formed with a plurality of uniformly spaced transverse foldand tear lines extending entirely across said strip, thereby to define aplurality of interconnected foldable mailing cards, said strip beingaccordion folded along at least some of said transverse tear lines, saidstrip being further provided with lines of feed perforations extendingonly along each margin of the strip, whereby said strip may be fedthrough 1a machine for printing information thereon, said strip furtherbeing provided with a longitudinal fold line extending substantiallycontinuously along a line offset from the center thereof, thereby toprovide a relatively short unfolded flap adapted to be folded in partover and secured to the remainder of the mailing card to conceal theprinting therebeneath.

2. A substantially continuous form of foldable mailing cards, comprisinga substantiallyrcontinuous strip of relatively stiff card stock, saidstrip being formed with a plurality of uniformly spaced transverse foldand tear lines extending entirely across said strip, thereby to define aplurality of interconnected foldable mailing cards, said strip beingaccordion folded along at least some of said transverse tear lines, saidstrip being further provided with lines of feed perforations extendingonly along each margin of the strip, whereby said strip may be fedthrough a machine for printing information thereon, said strip furtherbeing provided with a longitudinal fold line extending substantiallycontinuously along a line offset from the center thereof, thereby toprovide a relatively short unfolded ap adapted to be folded in part overand secured to the remainder of the mailing card to conceal the printingtherebeneath, a pair of narrow areas of pressure-sensitive adhesiveequi-distantly spaced on opposite sides of said longitudinal fold linein positions to register with one another when an individual card isfolded, and a paper separator interleaved with the accordion card stock,thereby to avoid undesired adhesive between cards in accordion-foldedcondition.

3. A continuous form as set forth in claim 2, further including anenclosing carton, and separator means extending across the top of thecarton in spaced parallel relationship from two sides thereof, therebyto facilitate separation of the card stock as it is fed to one side ofthe separator means while the paper strip is directed to the other sidethereof, as the card stock is fed to a machine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS426,503 Keller Apr. 29, 1890 699,875 Johnston May 13, 1902 908,875MacKaskie Jan. 5, 1909 2,365,716 Metzner Dec. 26, 1944 2,413,649 OverlyDec. 31, 1946 2,774,531 Rosenthal Dec. 18, 1956

